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James Stewart Autographs: Which are Genuine, Autopens or Forgeries?

Isn't this an Autopen signature?

Ebay auction

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Permalink Reply by DB on March 28, 2011 at 1:44am

Anthony be interesting to see a post or two of a "known" legit ones. Speaking of legit here are two that are alleged to be in that categoryand vary widelyin signature. What's interesting is why he goes from Jimmy to James especially when he signed himself in as Jimmy.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on March 28, 2011 at 6:04am

I've been following Stewart SPs for years. In my opinion, "Jimmy" is much less common than "James."

I believe the connected "St" with the flourish is an earlier signature. (Also on earlier signatures you will often see the "rt" connected with a similar flourish.)

You will see the flourish on the RT in this example I purchased on Ebay some time ago. I believe this to be authentic and an earlier signature.

Here is a "Jimmy" I purchased from Autograph World. I'm guessing this would be an 80s or early 90s TTM signature.

Here's another example I picked up on the cheap on eBay.

Another eBay win I am thrilled with...

I have about 8 others including a signed check... I'll get them scanned soon.

I suppose it could come to light someday that the TTMs were secretarial, but every person I've spoken with has not heard of Stewart secretarials and I've seen no evidence of it. I've recently discussed this with Rolf and Al Wittnebert. Others in the past.

There are plenty of fakes though. Typically they are too small and look too "tight." The real signature should be "loose" and flow like it was signed quickly. I like it when the signature is a little streaky.

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Permalink Reply by DB on March 28, 2011 at 1:51am

& According to our pals across the pond at isitreal here is what they claim to be 3 examples of an autopen;

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on March 28, 2011 at 5:42am

Those were originally posted on my website back in the late 90s. Rolf has reprinted them with my permission.

They are certainly confirmed Autopens. I received a small stack of "signed" bookplates from a friend who worked at Crown Publishing (the publisher of Stewart's book of poems) . These are the three patterns for which I found multiple copies.

There were two more signatiures which I am sure are Autopens, but unfortunately did not have a matching bookplate, so I did not include those two.

In all, it appears that there are at least 5 Autopen patterns.

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Permalink Reply by DB on March 28, 2011 at 10:37am

might want to have them cite the source...

wonder if the difference also includes ones signed Jimmy -vs- James...

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Permalink Reply by Markus Brandes on March 29, 2011 at 12:15am

That's right and I thank Mr Zipper for his wonderful educational site and permission to publish them on ISITREAL. Would love that more collector's give permission to their findings and support the sharing of knowledge.

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Permalink Reply by john reznikoff on March 28, 2011 at 7:10am

Nice examples Zipper!

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on March 28, 2011 at 3:49pm

Speaking of forgeries, here is an example I believe to be a James Stewart forgery. While the basic "shape" of the autograph is close, it appears too neat and "tight." Not much flow. "Best wishes" does not match up well with real exemplars. (See example above)

This is currently on eBay and comes with a Robert Polk COA. I would be very cautious of an item with a Robert Polk COA.

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Permalink Reply by DB on March 28, 2011 at 3:53pm

INteresting as the Stewart has alot of consistency to the last autopen... I wonder if it was signed via the TTM but i am sure there are gonna be alot of "Polks" out there.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on March 28, 2011 at 4:26pm

Perhaps my greatest eBay win of all time. Paid a whopping $14 for this in 2002. Two signatures on a vintage photo. To top it off, it comes from the personal collection of baseball HOFer Rollie Fingers. COA from Fingers directly.

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Permalink Reply by Scott Cornish on March 28, 2011 at 5:09pm

You got this from Rollie Fingers? That is too cool, Steve. This reminds me - I once bought a signed Rod Serling check on eBay. The seller sent her name and address for me to send payment - and her last name was Serling. It was his daughter.